


Something Classic

by lululawrence



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, American AU, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, No Smut, and suddenly he has it, and that's about all this is, at least i think it's kinda silly and funny, marcel just isn't used to attention, of the positive variety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 16:27:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15392778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: Marcel didnotpeak in high school. High school was full of dress codes and bullies and he never would have made it through if not for Zayn and Liam.College has finally arrived, and Marcel is excited for his chance to finally be able to express himself in ways he wasn't able to before. He never could have accounted for how leaving his high school uniform in the past could change everything.Especially once he meets Louis Tomlinson.





	Something Classic

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Polski available: [Something Classic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15548364) by [oh_galwaygirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_galwaygirl/pseuds/oh_galwaygirl)



> I was so excited when I learned the word because I knew how I could make it work for this prompt I was desperately wanting to write ever since I saw the photo of Harry wearing Kacey's rainbow shirt. In this fic it isn't Kacey merch he is wearing, but it is the same style so just imagine Marcel walking around campus rocking [this look](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/175188926283/louisadmirer-marcel-grew-up) like a badass.
> 
> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge that a group of us are participating in for the prompt "Unused". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/unused/works), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works) or find the masterpost for this year’s challenge here.
> 
> Biggest thank you to [Emmu](http://londonfogonacup.tumblr.com) for letting my brainstorm at her and then deciding it should be Marcel instead of just nerd Harry. Also HUGE thank you to [Mollu](http://becomeawendybird.tumblr.com) for giving me an amazing beta so quickly! I appreciate you! As usual, all remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> Title comes from Kacey Musgrave's Velvet Elvis because _something_ needed to be dedicated to her in some way since her merch was what brought about this thing. haha Please don't share this fic with anyone in any way related to any of the boys, this is a work of fiction, etc etc etc. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Now Available in Polish on [AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15548364) and [Tumblr](https://drunkmeisbestme.tumblr.com/post/176582133691/something-classic-t%C5%82umaczenie-pl)!

Marcel did not peak in high school. All growing up - and even throughout his time during those four hellish years - everyone told him, “Marcel! It’s the time of your life! Live it up! Enjoy yourself!” Maybe not those exact words, but close to it.

All he kept thinking was, if that was the best life had to offer, he wasn’t sure he cared so much for the rest of it.

Besides, he really did have the two best friends a guy could ask for. Liam and Zayn were completely accepting of Marcel in all his dorky glory. They obviously also didn’t care that he wasn’t sure how to label his sexuality outside of knowing he definitely was interested in boys and girls in some capacity, considering they were dating each other. 

They were two of the coolest kids at school who decided to, for some reason, become Marcel’s protectors when they came upon some bullies trying to rough Marcel up a bit his first week at a new school. Zayn basically adopted Marcel at that point and Liam was more than happy to have someone else join their social group that, until that day, had consisted of just the two of them.

So the three of them became a family, where Marcel felt sometimes like Liam and Zayn were his parents, but most of the time they just enjoyed hanging out and watching comic book and fantasy films.

Marcel’s least favorite thing about high school was the uniform. He’d always had a different sense of style anyway, but the required dress code made him feel ridiculous. Others, like Zayn, looked like they had just walked off the runway, even wearing the ridiculous cardigans and pleated khakis. Marcel, on the other hand, looked like the spitting image of his great-grandfather, down to the too large glasses and unruly curls. It wasn’t attractive.

As was the trend in high school, most of the kids judged Marcel by his looks and good grades and that was his social death march.

No. Marcel absolutely did  _ not _ peak in high school. But now it was time for college.

Liam and Zayn had never had any intentions of leaving the city, and Marcel had no desire to move away from his family or the only two friends he had in order to start the next chapter of his life. It was only natural for all three moved into a shared apartment across the street from the small local university a week before fall semester started.

 

*~~***~~*

 

Marcel stared into his closet. He had been looking forward to this moment for ages. He had never had a chance to go to school and wear whatever clothing he wanted, but now he found the pressure was too much. 

Should he go for a more studious look? Maybe a button up with with a pair of his nicer jeans? Perhaps it was more expected of him to come completely relaxed in a pair of sweatpants and his old Rolling Stones shirt?

“Zayn,” Marcel finally called. He knew they were up because Liam had left for his ridiculously early Physical Sciences course half an hour ago. “I need help dressing myself!”

“Fuck off,” Zayn called back. “Just wear whatever you want.”

“That’s the problem,” Marcel whined. “I don’t know what I want.”

Sticking his bottom lip out to complete the pout, Marcel pushed up his heavy glasses and turned towards his bedroom door where he knew Zayn would be standing, judging him.

“Please? Help me?” Marcel clasped his hands together prayer style in front of his chest. “Don’t make me beg.”

Rolling his eyes Zayn turned around and walked back to his bedroom. Before he closed the door he said, “Just wear your old school rainbow shirt and those flares you like so much. The retro look is in and you’ll be comfortable for your long day of classes, too.”

Marcel’s heart skipped a beat. “My...my favorite rainbow shirt?”

He’d never worn that outside of his house before. He was proud of who he was and his sexuality, but he also knew how to protect himself. In high school that was to never leave the house wearing anything that was bright and colorful, much less anything that could possibly code him as anything but straight. 

“Yes, your rainbow shirt,” Zayn called from his room. He opened the door, now dressed in complete black as was the dress code at his new job. “Now’s the time to break it out into the light of day, babes. You can do it and I’ll have a chocolate cake waiting for you from the restaurant tonight to reward you for it, okay?”

Marcel sighed. “Okay.”

He still didn’t move, though, until Zayn said, “You better be leaving soon or you’re going to be late to your first day of class.”

Checking the time, Marcel realized he was right and there was no way in hell he was going to be late to his classes on the first day of his college career. Absolutely not.

He grabbed the outfit Zayn described as well as the first pair of socks he could find and threw them all on. His bag and chucks were by the door, so after swiping a banana off the counter in the kitchen, he stood by the door checking that he had everything he needed.

Phone? Check. Pre-packed bag ? (Excellent foresight, past-Marcel.) Check. Keys?

Shit. Where were his keys? They didn’t have the cute key display hanger Liam had found at Target hung up yet, and because of that Marcel had lost his keys at least three times in just the past week. That was the first thing he needed to do once he got home tonight.

But first, keys.

“They’re in your bookbag,” Zayn said as he sat down to put on his shoes. “You knew you’d lose them and forget about them otherwise so you put them there last night and asked me to remind you.”

“God, I love you,” Marcel said as he picked up his bookbag and, sure enough, there were his keys. “Okay, i’m going now. Have a good shift at work! See you tonight!”

 

*~~***~~*

 

Marcel walked to his fourth (and last) class he had today and hitched his bookbag up a little higher on his back. If he was honest with himself, he was getting a little freaked out.

People kept  _ staring. _ He’d already checked himself in the bathroom mirrors, twice, and asked the nice woman stood behind him in line at the gyro shop across the street if he had something in his hair. Or on his face. Or maybe something on his back that he couldn’t see. He never did and he just could not for the life of him figure out why people were staring at him.

In high school, there had been a distinct lack of staring. If someone was looking his way, that usually meant trouble was coming, but he had yet to have anyone even say something cruel to him. Some of the smiles sent his way by a couple of the girls even looked entirely genuine.

Was it the rainbow shirt? It was probably the rainbow shirt. He was very happy he was able to wear it outside and not fear too much, but he wasn’t fond of the attention he was getting for it either. He’d have to remember to save it for weekends then.

All the same, Marcel walked to class and did his best to keep his head up and walk with confidence. Zayn always told Liam that his confidence was one of his sexiest traits. Maybe it could be for Marcel, too.

Once he walked into the room, a couple of girls gave him an obvious look up and down before smirking at him and winking as they walked past him on the way out.

“See you next week,” the shorter one said, making the other giggle as they left him alone in the lecture hall.

“Okay,” Marcel said under his breath. He was trying to figure out if they were messing with him or serious when the fact he was the only person in the room dawned on him. He checked his watch and saw it was only a minute to the lecture starting since he had to walk all the way across campus after his previous class to get here, so there definitely should have been more people. 

He looked up towards the chalkboard and projector screen that someone had left down earlier in the day to see a paper posted to the board. He walked up to it and took a look.

Class had been cancelled due to the professor not getting back from his overseas sabbatical until that evening due to a last minute change in travel. An email had likely been sent out, but Marcel hadn’t bothered to check it since he’d left for classes this morning. He’d have to be more on top of that in the future.

Well, at least that allowed for him to go and finally get his official ID from the union. He’d had orientation at his new job that he couldn’t miss during the hours they were open last week, so now might as well work.

He trekked across campus, again, and had more people winking and smiling at him. He sure hoped that would stop once he wasn’t wearing rainbows tomorrow. He wasn’t sure he was okay with the attention.

It was only when he was the next student up that he saw the photo was larger than Marcel was expecting. It would definitely show the top of the rainbow on his shirt on the ID he would have to carry for the rest of his college career. Oh well. It wasn’t like he didn’t want people to know he was proud or anything, just that he wasn’t sure he was comfortable with the attention.

“Next,” called the girl behind the camera. 

Harry handed her the form he’d filled out with his information she needed to punch in as well as his Driver’s Licence to prove it was him. She gave him a kind smile and gestured to where he should stand as she did whatever she needed to do on the computer.

“Hey, Jade. It’s your break. I’ll take over.”

Marcel looked up and his mouth went dry. The guy taking over for Jade had a name tag that said  _ Louis _ and he was dressed incredibly. He had on a pair of black jeans that were rolled up to show off his ankles and a baseball tee that definitely emphasized his curves. Marcel looked back down at his ankles. He always believed you could tell a man by his ankles, and Louis’ looked exceptional.

“Alright, Marcel? You ready?”

Louis looked up and flicked his head to the side to get his fringe out of his eyes. God, Marcel had never seen anyone move so effortlessly and be so perfectly beautiful at the same time. Not even Zayn.

He blinked and realized Louis was waiting for an answer. Right. “Uh, yeah. I’m ready.”

Then Louis smiled.

Marcel was fairly sure he wasn’t exaggerating to himself when he thought his life would never be the same now that he had seen that smile. It was bright and brilliant and Marcel was about ninety-three point seven percent sure that it had just made the sun actually shine brighter through the windows across the way.

Marcel reached up to feel how unruly the humidity had made his curls. After six months of not even getting a trim, they usually had a mind of their own and today was the last day he wanted that to happen.

“They look great, Marcel. Promise.”

Eyes widening and blush spreading across his cheeks, Marcel gave a shy smile then shifted over to where the red x was taped onto the carpet. He looked up where the arrow above the camera lens was pointing, then gave his best smile.

“Dimples too?” Louis said with a whistle. “Well aren’t you lucky.”

A flash went off, and it felt like Marcel’s brain had turned to mush. Was Louis being serious by saying that? Or were his dimples ridiculous and over the top with his already loud outfit and crazy curls?

“Your ID will print and be available at the front desk in about ten minutes,” Louis said, offering another smile. “Nice to meet you.”

Marcel just nodded and gave him a small smile before picking up his bookbag and immediately rushing away. He had to get away from the beautiful boy with his perfect hair and perfect cheekbones and perfect smile before Marcel made it even more obvious how  _ not _ perfect he was.

Now that he knew a boy like Louis existed, maybe he could work himself up to feeling like he could actually carry a conversation with him. That was a worthy goal. Definitely.

“Marcel Styles?”

Marcel looked up and saw a blonde girl chewing bubble gum waving his new ID. He rushed to get it, offered a thank you, and then began the walk home. 

He needed that chocolate cake.

 

*~~***~~*

 

“Li, I just don’t get it. It’s just me,” Marcel said through a large bite of moist chocolate cake. He still couldn’t remember the name of the fancy place Zayn now worked, but he did know the chocolate cake was his favorite item they had on the menu.

“Yeah, and  _ just Marcel _ is fucking hot, babes,” Zayn said. He was running a towel over his hair as he walked towards where Liam was lounging on the couch. Liam gave him a smile and a soft peck on the lips before looking at Marcel again.

“Zayn’s right. You’re a good looking guy and we always told you that. Just because the people we went to high school with were pricks who couldn’t see past their own noses and these people can doesn’t mean your levels of attractiveness have gone down.”

Zayn nodded and gave Liam another smile. Marcel watched as they practically eye-fucked on the couch. 

“Oh my God, guys. Not in front of my fucking salad!” Marcel stood up and turned to go into his room. “I can’t do this with you guys right now. Just fuck and then come talk to me some more once you’ve got it out of your systems.”

“Never gonna get you out of my system,” Zayn said with a giggle. 

Liam’s resulting moan was truly filthy so Marcel obviously didn’t have any other choice than to call back to them again, “Just make sure to keep it to your bedroom and remember these walls are  _ thin _ so I don’t have anymore nightmares about you two than I already do.”

Laughter followed him but it was only a few minutes before a knock sounded at Marcel’s door.

“You can’t possibly be finished already. If you are, that’s just pathetic,” Marcel said as the door opened.

“We weren’t actually going to do anything in front of you,” Liam said, blushing.

Marcel looked at them, unimpressed. “Sure, Liam. Whatever you say, Liam.”

Liam sighed, Zayn smiled, and Marcel moved over so they could join him on his bed just like they always did when they were gossiping in high school.

“So, during all your complaining about people actually noticing you exist-”

“Oh, what a horrifying concept!” Zayn interrupted.

Liam sent a look to Zayn before continuing, “I noticed you mentioned a  _ boy.” _

Marcel froze. Had he mentioned Louis? Maybe he had.

“You thought he might have been teasing you,” Liam prompted.

Marcel winced. “Yeah. I mean, he couldn’t have been serious, right? Maybe my dimples are just so big on top of everything else that they aren’t attractive in any way, or maybe he was just being nice?”

“Marcelllll,” Zayn groaned before throwing himself on top of Marcel, getting Marcel’s shirt soaked through with his hair. “When are you going to believe us? You are hot as fuck, babe. Just accept it and go with it!”

“I don’t know how!” Marcel cried, throwing his hands in the air, but being careful not to smack either of the other boys. “I’m not used to this kind of attention!”

“Being unused to positive attention could make it a bit more difficult for him to adjust, if you think about it,” Liam said, looking serious. “You know how hard it was for me to accept the idea that you actually liked me when you first moved to town.”

Zayn’s smile turned softer as he looked at Liam, and Marcel knew he was thinking of the difficult middle school years they’d endured together. Marcel found it so beautiful how these two, who were so different and so strong willed in their own ways, came together and were so soft and careful with each other. Their love was obvious, and Marcel could only hope for a love like it when the time came.

Taking a deep breath, Zayn turned back to Marcel. “Come here, babe,” he said before wrapping himself even more fully around Marcel and forcing him to lie down. Liam cuddled up behind Marcel, his arms encircling both of them.

“You just need to believe in yourself, okay?” Zayn said softly. “Just be you and don’t hold back and you’ll see. People, especially that boy from the union, will love you.”

Marcel just smiled and snuggled into their combined warmth. Maybe, if he tried really hard, he would be able to get to that point by the end of the semester.

 

*~~***~~*

 

It was the second day of classes and Marcel had slept in. How the hell had he slept through his alarm? His first class wasn’t even until eleven. That was far later than he usually slept any other day of the week.

He always used to hate his body because every Saturday when he didn’t have anywhere to be, his body clock woke him up at seven thirty. But today? The first week of college courses when he really,  _ really _ should not be late? Slept like the dead. Fuck his life.

So now, Marcel was running across campus -- because of course his American Literature class was in the furthest building from where he lived -- wearing his ratty gray sweatpants and his torn up Rolling Stones shirt he’d fallen asleep in the night before. Quite the impression.

Breathing heavily, Marcel rooted around in his bookbag, not paying attention to where he was walking, as he tried to climb the steps into his building as fast as he could. He finally found his inhaler and was about to take a puff when he ran right into a warm body.

Books went crashing, Marcel’s glasses nearly fell to the ground, and the only thing Marcel could think to do to save himself (and his inhaler), was to grab onto the person he’d hit.

“Oh, God,” Marcel wheezed. “I’m so sorry. Let me just…” He finally was able to take a puff, eyes closed, and he could feel his chest releasing what had slowly become a tight hold on his lungs. One more puff should do it.

Once he was breathing somewhat normally, Marcel realized he still had his left hand tightly gripping the waist of the person he hadn’t even looked at yet as if he was in need of stabilization.

Then again, when his eyes opened and he saw the person he’d run into was Louis from the union, he  _ did _ need stabilization.

“Shit,” Marcel whispered. “I’m so sorry, Louis. I didn’t mean to.”

Louis looked at him concerned, his own strong hands gripping Marcel’s elbows as if he were trying to help keep him standing as well. 

“Totally fine. You look a bit rough, are you okay?”

Marcel nodded, and then remembered his glasses were nowhere near secure on his head. He finally let go of Louis’ waist and fixed them. It was amazing how seeing Louis even clearer didn’t make the fogginess in his brain go away. Might have even made it worse.

“Are those your books?” Louis asked, gesturing down to the textbooks that had fallen out of Marcel’s bookbag. 

Realizing the whole reason this had happened in the first place was because Marcel was running late and therefore really needed to get those books back in his bag so he could get into class, he dropped to the ground before answering.

“Yes, they’re mine. I’m so sorry again. I woke up late and so was rushing across campus to get to class on time, but my hayfever is causing issues with my asthma and I should have known I’d need my inhaler before and should have been looking where I was going…”

Louis’ chuckle made Marcel look up from his bag. Louis’ eyes were bright and he had the back of his hand pressed to his mouth. That was adorable, but then Marcel realized what he was wearing.

Bright red chinos that hugged his curves perfectly, the cuffs rolled to once again show off his ankles. A white shirt that looked like it was tailor made for him, because the neckline showed off his collarbones and the stripes seemed to accentuate how small his waist was. All while still putting his toned arms on perfect display. 

Marcel needed to remember to breathe for an entirely different reason now.

“What class do you have now?”

“Oh,” Marcel said, before blinking and standing up. “American Literature with Beikelman. Were you coming or going?”

“Coming, I’d stopped because I wasn’t positive this was the right building, but I’m actually heading to the same class so I guess it is.” Louis’ smile, just like yesterday, made everything in the vicinity seem brighter. It was incredible to witness. “Shall we go in, then?”

Marcel nodded and walked through the door that Louis held open for him. 

“Guess we’re both late now,” Louis whispered.

Marcel’s eyes widened. He was  _ horrified. _

“Fuck, Louis. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you late!”

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m usually late anyway, so this isn’t anything new for me.” Louis chuckled quietly as he opened the door to their lecture hall. 

Looking around, Marcel found a seat open near the front where he could see easier, but he would have to walk in front of everyone in order to get to it. He didn’t particularly care for that walk of shame.

“There’s two seats together just there, if those look okay?” Louis whispered, gesturing to where two seats were open and didn’t require the walk across the front of the room.

Marcel turned to look at Louis. “You don’t have to sit with me if you don’t want to.”

Louis furrowed his brow. “Why wouldn’t I want to?”

And...oh. Marcel hadn’t considered that maybe Louis wanted to sit beside him just like he was longing to be close to Louis. Marcel shrugged because he really didn’t have any other response.

Louis nodded his head to follow, and Marcel did so without thinking twice. 

 

*~~***~~*

 

“Is this seat taken?”

Marcel looked up and found Louis standing beside his desk. It was like deja vous. Only not because it actually  _ had _ happened earlier today.

“Nope,” Marcel said, waving his hand at the seat with a flourish. He swiped his unruly curls away from his forehead and pushed up his glasses. “You taking Intro to Bio as well?”

“No way,” Louis said quickly as he pulled out a notebook. “Just saw you through the window and figured I’d sit through a lecture I don’t belong in.”

Marcel scrunched up his nose to keep from smiling, but he was pretty sure it didn’t cover up anything. “Right.”

Louis burst out laughing and gripped Marcel’s shoulder, shaking him gently. “I love your sense of humor and that you let me say shit like that.”

That definitely got Marcel smiling. “You hardly know me,” he argued. It was true. They’d met less than twenty-four hours before and this might be the second class in a day they shared, but it didn’t mean they actually knew anything about each other. Certainly not enough for Marcel to stop craving more.

“Well, maybe you should give me your number so we can chat and get to know each other better,” Louis said, arching his brow. “Or, if you’re interested, I’d be more than willing to take you out tomorrow night.”

Marcel froze. Did that just happen? Fuck, he’d tripped and hit his head earlier on the steps into American Literature, didn’t he? There was no way Louis just asked for his number, much less asked him out on a  _ date. _

“If you’re not interested, that’s fine too,” Louis said, looking back down at his desk and quickly taking his hand back to himself. He was starting to curl in on himself a little bit and Marcel could not have that.

His arm shot out and his hand gripped Louis’ hand, where it sat on his thigh. “I’m definitely interested. In both of those options, if that’s okay.”

Louis looked up through his eyelashes and that just was not fucking okay. Who said that was a fair move? Marcel should find his inhaler again, just in case.

“You don’t have to say yes out of pity,” Louis said slowly. “I’m a big boy. I can handle it. Besides, I shouldn’t have assumed you might swing that way just because of the rainbow shirt yesterday.”

Marcel snorted so loud he thought it might echo back at him. “I definitely swing that way, don’t worry. And I am not saying yes out of pity. I didn’t answer before because I wasn’t sure it had actually happened.” Marcel blushed a little before he said, “I’m not exactly used to people I’m interested in even knowing I exist. Or, if they do, it definitely isn’t for the reasons I want them to.”

Louis’ tongue flicked out before he bit his bottom lip. Marcel couldn’t help but follow the movement. Everything Louis did was so interesting and he wanted to just sit and watch him forever.

“Well that’s their loss, then,” Louis said softly before giving a smile. He shifted his hips and soon was holding out his phone to Marcel. “Here. Put in your number and we can work out the details for tomorrow night later.”

As Marcel put his number in, he peeked up at Louis. “You are seriously in this class as well?”

Louis rolled his eyes. “Yes, of course I am. I would never go sit in a lecture hall just to talk to a hot boy.” Smirking, Louis took his phone back. “I’m not  _ that _ desperate.”

“Oh, but you are a little bit?” Marcel said, chuckling. “Not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

“Always a compliment.”

 

*~~***~~*

 

“You guys, I’ve met the love of my life and if I don’t mess anything up we are going on my last first date ever tomorrow night,” Marcel proclaimed as he barged into the apartment. Once he kicked off his shoes he looked up and saw a blond he didn’t recognize. “Uh, hi. I’m Marcel.”

The blond waved happily with a broad smile before saying, “I’m Niall. Nice to meet you! I’ve heard great things about you from Zayn.”

Marcel cocked his head to the side. “That’s...nice,” he finally said slowly. “How do you know Zayn?”

“Oh, we work together. And we found out today we also share an art history course.” Niall leaned back and smiled. “So. Love of your life, huh?”

Marcel blushed. “Uh. I mean, not really. At least, I don’t know yet. But yeah, maybe.”

“You run into Louis again or is it someone else now?” Zayn called as he walked out to the living room. He froze when he was in the doorway and saw what Marcel was wearing. “Don’t tell me you asked him out while dressed like that.”

Pouting, Marcel put his hands on his hips and said, “Excuse you, I didn’t have to ask. Apparently this look does it for Louis because  _ he _ asked  _ me _ on a date.”

“Oh shit,” Niall cried, sitting up again and pointing at Marcel with glee. “You’re the Marcel he met at work yesterday!” By now Niall was cackling happily. “Yeah, that look would win him the rest of the way over. Especially since you were apparently freeballing.”

Marcel’s eyes widened and he immediately bent over to see if it really was that obvious. It wasn’t, was it? “You can’t actually tell that just by looking at me, can you?”

Niall laughed even louder, this time with Zayn joining in. “Only if you’re looking for it. Louis would have been.”

“Oh my God, I’ve never been so embarrassed,” Marcel said, covering his face. “I slept through my alarm! I was running late! I just grabbed what I could find to get me out the door fastest!”

“Take it easy on Marce, man,” Liam said as he came out and sat in Zayn’s lap. Zayn just shifted a bit to handle the weight. If Marcel wasn’t so thankful for his support, he would have fake gagged at how sickeningly sweet they were together. “So you’ve got a date tomorrow?”

Marcel nodded happily. “Yeah. We exchanged numbers and we’re going to go on the date tomorrow night. He’s my forever.”

Zayn snorted and Niall cackled a little bit more, but Marcel didn’t care. If Louis liked him enough to ask him out when he was unshowered, dressed in a ratty t-shirt and gross sweatpants, then Marcel figured there were worse things.

“I have a lot of reading to do for my classes before I get to work, but just know this.” Marcel made sure all three of them were looking at him before he continued. “We’re going to get married and have eight kids and live in the suburbs while we struggle to make ends meet but love each other until death do us part. Just wait.”

Marcel made his way to his room to study, but as he left Zayn called, “As long as you don’t beat us to the wedding bit, I’m good with it.”

 

*~~***~~*

 

“Babe, I just thought you should know that I’m not sure Zayn is going to actually say yes to being your best man. Liam might be a better choice. He doesn’t hold grudges as long.”

Marcel finally looked up from the ring that was sitting on his finger. He couldn’t believe it. They were  _ engaged. _

Accepting the kiss Louis offered when he came back into the room, Marcel leaned his head on Louis’ shoulder and asked, “Why not? He’ll get over it.”

Louis chuckled and ran his fingers lightly through Marcel’s curls. It was late and they should both be getting to bed, but they were so hyped from actually getting engaged, it wasn’t likely that they’d sleep anytime soon. 

“Zayn was yelling pretty loudly in the background the entire time we were telling them the news. Something about how he told you he was okay with us as long as we didn’t get married before them?”

Marcel had been in such a fog, he hadn’t paid any attention to what Zayn was saying. Now that Louis brought it up, Marcel finally remembered Zayn being so emphatic about it. The entire first week he had told Marcel, multiple times, that they couldn’t get married first. 

He didn’t realize Zayn was serious, first of all, but also he didn’t think they would take their good time getting married. No wonder he and Louis were beating them.

“It isn’t my fault that he and Zayn decided to wait to get married until they were done with grad school,” Marcel whined before laying down and pulling Louis down with him. He tucked himself into Louis’ neck before leaning up a bit to take off his glasses and then push his face right back in to Louis’ skin. He loved how Louis smelled there. “We just don’t want to wait another three years for them to finish fucking around.”

Louis snorted. “True. But all the same, I think Liam is a wiser choice on your part.”

Marcel hummed. “Maybe.” Placing a kiss on the juncture between Louis’ neck and shoulder, he shifted up so he could see Louis’ face before saying, “Hey. We’re getting married.”

“We are, baby. You’re gonna be mine forever.”

“I always was.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! If you feel like helping a fic writer feel warm and happy, please leave kudos, nice comments, or reblog the fic post [here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/176201362028/lululawrence-something-classic-5k-by). Or go ahead and do all three if you REALLY want to make my week! hehe


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